FAQ
As always, we are
open to any questions or concerns our customers might have. Please feel free to
Email us or post your questions on our Question Board. We will be more than happy
to try & answer them for you.
Philips and
Osram are the ones widely used in cars in North America/Europe.
(GE is still trying to get their feet into car manufacturers’ budget.) They come
with standard 4100K color temperature only. This is the only legal HID bulb color
temperature under DOT/ECE regulations. Many projector headlights in upscale vehicles
may look like they have higher Kelvin rating, but that is an optical effect.
None of the OE
companies manufacturer HID bulbs with any halogen type base. This would be an illegal
product to sell and use on the street. OE companies value safe products higher than
making some quick money now and lawsuits later. The only base they produce is P32-d
that will fit into socket of an OEM HID headlamp. As an example, any seller who
claims to have a 9006 Philips HID bulb is a scam. This is confusing marketing. At
the best, all the seller can offer is a 9006 rebased Philips OEM HID bulb.
The labeled light
color on an HID bulb is an average that it will maintain over 2-3000 hours. After
passing around 100-500 hours the phenomenon "color shift" will take place. Color
will change slightly from a yellowish tone to a crisper bluer tone. The magnitude
of color shift will vary depending on brand, model and rated color. It is a very
gradual change and unless paid close attention to, a customer might not notice.
OEM 4100K Bulbs manufactured by Philips has a colorshift
of approx 250K after 500 hours, which will bring it to up to 4350K. Asian
manufactured bulbs have been reported to have little or no color shift. Most of
them come with output stealing blue filters, which may be part of the cause.
OEM=Original
Manufacturer Equipment
Aftermarket=sold as spare bulbs or manufacturer of kit
Bulb base: P32-d
"CM" means color match.
85122: D2S. Color is bluer white with slight greenish tone.
85122+: D2S CM (Plus). 5000K, Aftermarket only. Go to pair up with used 85122.
85122WX: D2S Ultinon 6000K, Aftermarket only.
Ultinons label on bulb "Philips BL-2 Non automotive
use"
85123: D2S. Color is bluer white with slight purple tone. Not officially on Philips
product list. Nevertheless, it is found in some BMW OEM HID headlamps.
85126: D2R.
85126+: D2R CM (Plus). 5000K, Aftermarket only. Go to pair up with used 85126.
85126WX: D2R. Ultinon 6000K, Aftermarket only.
This is the bulb installed
OE in many HID headlamps today. It is 3200lm bright and 4100K
colortemp. At zero hours it starts off at 4100K and
goes upwards to 4600K after 1500 hours. After that there are no measure points,
but curve has the direction to reach 5000K after maybe 2500hours. Do not rush out
and buy some 5 year old bulb from an old BMW 750iA yet; As all other bulbs, they
also get dimmer with time:
100% at 0 hours
90% at 200 hours
80% at 1000 hours
75% at 1500 hours
70% at 2000 hours
There is no reason to jump any conclusion that they loose lumen too fast. I would
be surprised if any other lamp can do better. A halogen lamp is usually out of service
after 5-600 on graphs like this. Asian HID bulbs have reputation for 5-600 hours
of life as well.
Many people said, "oh no, not another blue bulb!", and thought that the blue
low quality bulb "scam" finally spread over to hit the real HID market in late 2001.
Philips Ultinons made in
There are other blue HID bulbs made other places in the world that can be scam products.
They maybe even have the Philips or Osram name on the
box, or the base, but bulbs are made or modified by someone else. Equal bulbs can
also be marketed to have different color temperature. Most customers would never
know if color temp was off, as long as they are matched as a pair. Some kit and
bulb suppliers advertise with 7000K and higher. This can be
suspective because a lower than OEM quality bulb can have been used. No bulb
OEM manufacturer makes any versions with more than ~6000K, so either it is 6000K,
or the bulb might have been painted. Painting bulbs decreases brightness and in
most cases decreases life. So be aware what you are buying.
Stage 1 refers to 4100K and stage 2 normally refers to something higher value
K.
As an example, a 6000K bulb in some headlamps might not show much difference at
all, others will look bluer. These are observations when standing in front of the
car looking into the headlights from above. After getting over the initial thrill
of cooler light, many drivers have noticed that important traffic information are
not as apparent as with OEM standard bulb. White traffic signs are being lit too
much and can feel glaring.
During winter 2002, exponential use of Kelvin (K) rating is used as brightness improving
advertisement. Its all just big empty words, do a search for "Kelvin color temperature"
on a search engine (i.e.: yahoo.com) and you will see that it has nothing to do
with brightness and all to do with color. Going upwards from
4300K means that your light turns blue at the expense of total brightness and yellow
color. Theoretically, if the same brightness were to be kept, you would have
to increase the wattage of the bulb from 35 to maybe 40W, and redesign the ballast.
This would be a very costly solution, so that’s pretty much why all automotive HID
bulbs are 35W.
Many sellers nowadays
offer several brands with different price tag. Typically, HID bulbs designed and
manufactured in simple facilities will have lower quality. Most of these bulbs are
made
·
Vestec
· Bulbs in kits sold
by Misterjung
· Bulbs in kits sold
under "Bohmen"
For your Model of
bulbs you will have HID low beams and loose your high beams. However If you had
hid for your low beams that are 3x brighter than your High Beams you have currently
and will never need your high beams anyways. HID will give you more light
output than your high beams currently, so there would be no use for them.
For vehicles with
DRL that use the same bulb for both DRL and low beam you will need to deactivate
your DRL. DRL operate on reduced wattage or fluctuating current levels. This will
cause the HID system to flicker and burn out prematurely. Please ensure that your
OEM headlight harness is providing a constant 12V to ensure that no damage will
be caused to the HID system
No. It is designed
to withstand light mist of non acid water. In order to weatherproof the ballast,
it should be mounted in the underhood compartment, rather
than in the bumper area or wheelwells. This will ensure
that a minimal among of water will reach the ballast. The ballast itself has been
weatherproofed to a degree, but it is still best that it not come into contact with
large amounts of water. Exposure to a small amount of water will not damage the
system.
Good ballast is one
that is used by OEM. Examples would be Denso, Valeo,
Philips, Hella,
Matshushita.
Every jurisdiction
has its own rules and regulations governing the use of automotive lighting. XENON
HID lighting systems that are supplied with the vehicles from the factory are DOT
approved.
NO XENON HID conversion
kit available from any source is DOT approved if installed outside of the factory.
Moreover, in the U.S, this is not street legal for use on public roads. As a result,
we officially endorse the kit for exhibition and off-road use and will only sell
the kit to be used for these purposes. We are not responsible for buyers who violate
the terms of sale while in which they will assume all responsibilities for any unauthorized
or unintended use other than exhibition or off-road use.
Our DOT approved line
of HID products are completely street legal
and are
S.A.E approved.